JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reduces Stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 39.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 234,667 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 152,477 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.10% of Ardelyx worth $1,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 33,323 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 16,924 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Investment Management bought a new stake in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $72,819,000 after purchasing an additional 767,111 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 214.5% during the 4th quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 41,531 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 28,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at about $254,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $5.50 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Ardelyx to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David M. Mott acquired 77,729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.00 per share, with a total value of $388,645.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,015,494 shares in the company, valued at $10,077,470. The trade was a 4.01 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 4,941 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total transaction of $27,768.42. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,707,378.48. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 158,076 shares of company stock valued at $823,804 in the last three months. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company's stock.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Ardelyx stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $5.60. 651,023 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,356,789. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $5.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.27. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Ardelyx, Inc. has a one year low of $4.02 and a one year high of $9.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of -35.09 and a beta of 0.81.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. The company had revenue of $116.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.16 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Ardelyx Profile

Ardelyx, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines to treat gastrointestinal and cardiorenal therapeutic areas in the United States and internationally. The company's lead product candidate is tenapanor for the treatment of patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation.